Vintage & Vampire
by CheapMonday
Summary: Call it fate; call it destiny, because when vintage meets infinity, all's going to change, for two people, both strange. Both are broken halves, hoping to be mended, but was this chance encounter intended? ExB, AU


**AN:**

**Please read and review! :)  
Twilight and all its character don't belong to me. **

**Vintage & Vampire**

**Summary:** Call it fate; call it destiny, because when vintage meets infinity, all's going to change, for two people, both strange. Both are broken halves, hoping to be mended, but was this chance encounter intended?

**Prologue**

The room felt almost claustrophobic for her, but she had a weakness for vintage shops and this one on Notting Hill Gate had such an irresistible appeal. Unfortunately her womb did not agree with her.

"I don't know why you're dragging me in here" Jacob whined as he looked through racks with clothes. His face would change with every find, revealing his distaste. It was almost entertaining for Bella. She couldn't help snickering when he held up a flowery dress, with a scowl on display on his tan face. They had sought refuge here after the rain started to pour down. Hello, London weather, Jacob thought.

"Oh, that one is quite nice" Bella giggled and continued with a rack on the other side of the room.

"Yeah, for our grandmothers" he snorted and put it back. Jacob just didn't get it. Who would buy other people's clothes? Second hand garments? Bella rolled with her eyes when she saw him musing.

"Don't hate on our grandmothers, especially grandma Swan" Bella chided whilst pointing one thin finger at him. Jacob held up his hands in surrender and went over to Bella. He hugged her from behind, resting one hand on her belly. Bella rested her hand on his as he rubbed the enlarged belly.

"I just felt him kicking" Jacob whispered. For outsiders, this would seem like an intimate moment. But Bella slapped his hand away and returned to the racks.

"Don't say 'him'" Bella whispered and willed the tears back. She cursed and damned the hormones to the fieriest pits of hell. Jacob grabbed her wrists and turned her so they were face to face with him towering over her. Bella gasped from the pain and surprise.

"What? You want me to call him 'it'? Damn it, Bella, he deserves to be acknowledged as a human-being!" he said with anger evident in his brown eyes. Bella tried with all her might to keep the tears at bay, but one hormone-controlled pregnant woman could only handle so much. She looked down, ashamed and defeated. Jacob sighed and took one step back, releasing her wrists. She rubbed them to try to get rid of the pain.

"I'm sorry. I'm going to Waterstone's" he said dejectedly.

"I'll meet you in KFC" Bella said, trying to get the friendly atmosphere back. He responded with a slight smile, so unlike Jacob.

Bella had decided that there was nothing downstairs, so why not venture upstairs? She struggled a bit as she ascended the stairs, gripping the handrail next to her. After a war or two, she finally made it and then she saw it. It was a white dress, simple but classy. She had to have it. She would fit it after giving birth and some training. She had only one thought in mind – she had to get it. The moment she was close to it, she reached out to it, but had to recoil in surprise when her hand collided with a cold and pale hand. She gasped as their skin made contact. She looked up to find the owner of the hand in question and was met with quite the sight.

He was a tall man with smouldering eyes, chiselled jaw and a defined face. _What a hunk_, Bella thought.

"I'm sorry?" Bella uttered, it sounded almost like a question. The stranger took a step back, straightened his back and held out the same pale hand, while the other ruffled through his unruly and bouffant hair. It seemed bronze, but she could have been mistaken due to the poor lighting in the vintage shop.

"Hello, please excuse my rude behaviour. I'm Edward, Edward Cullen" he said with the most melodious voice, it was like dripping, warm butter in her ear. His accent didn't sound British, more like an American.

"It's okay, I'm Bella Swan" Bella replied. She found it very hard to concentrate in the presence of this man. She didn't know what it was, her pregnancy-crazed hormones or this man that rendered her speechless. Everything about him screamed SEX, everything from his bed hair to his – _Oh, my. Look at his hands!_, Bella thought and blushed.

"You know, it's quite rude to stare like that" his honey-glazed voice interrupted her chain of thoughts. She looked up in embarrassment. He had caught her staring.

Edward found her very amusing, but he had to move on. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to leave this delightful creature. Her eyes were brown – chocolate brown. Her skin was pale, yet with healthy glow. It must be because she was pregnant. For a moment he envied the man who had won her heart. Even though he didn't know this Bella Swan, he was spellbound. Everything about her drew him in, like a moth to a flame. Only he was willing to be lured into death. But Edward couldn't die by human hands. He was a vampire. Soulless creatures. He despised himself for being one. What he wouldn't do to become a normal human. Maybe he would have found someone like Bella. Get married, have a family.

Edward tried to get into her head to see who her husband was. Nothing. He tried harder and blocked the voices of the other customers. Still nothing.

"Who's staring now?" her taunting voice said, breaking his reverie. He straightened back up again and noticed that her hand was still resting on the dress.

Alice, his sister, had a vision, but blocked him from seeing it by singing a French song. She told him that there was this dress in a vintage shop. She had to have it. But Edward couldn't bring himself to take the dress from her. That wouldn't be an action of a gentleman, but then again. He feared Alice Cullen's wrath and anger. Screw being a gentleman, he'd rather have keep his head. He had already been to hell and back, but Alice was a force to be reckoned with.

"I'm sorry, but I've got to have this dress" he said, thinking that he could smooth-talk her into surrendering it to him. He got it out of her weak grasp.

"Excuse me?" her once pale face had turned into different shades of red. He didn't know what was worse: Alice or angry, pregnant women.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" she asked, fuming.

"A very frightened person" Edward said. He had dealt with pregnant women before, but this was an outstanding example. He couldn't read her thoughts, so he didn't know what to expect from her.

"Damn right! Now give me the dress or I shall rip your head off" she said with the sweetest, sing-song voice, yet she had the eyes of a murderer. She would make a great vampire, but he didn't have the heart to introduce her to his world. It was unlikely that they would ever speak again after leaving the shop. Edward surrendered the dress to this fire-cracker.

"Thanks" she said and had returned to her normal mood. Whatever normal was. She turned on her heel and went downstairs to pay for it. Edward followed her like a puppy. He was at loss for words. Normally he could be a very convincing person. He could smooth-talk anybody to everything, that was his charm, yet he couldn't get into her head. She intrigued him.

"Why don't you let me pay for it?" he asked carefully. He didn't want another Bella-explosion. She glanced at him with suspicious eyes.

"As an apology" he said.

"Two quid" the shop-owner said. Edward handed him two pounds before Bella could protest. She turned angrily so they were face to face.

"Why must you such a..." she couldn't finish her sentence. She was opening and closing her mouth, like a fish.

"Now you have to make me speechless too? You Edward Cullen are a pesky... I can't even find a noun to describe you!" she continued her banter. She shoved two pounds in Edward's hands and headed for the exit. She went out and was greeted by heavy rain. She growled in annoyance.

"Did I just hear you growl?" Edward as amused as he held an umbrella over her. She looked at him and sighed in surrender. Looks like she couldn't get away, and now she wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to. She thought he was beautiful, as if he was from another world.

"Why don't we find a place for you to sit?" Edward asked. She did look paler than she originally did.

"I'm meeting someone at KFC over there" she pointed to the KFC down the street. It was probably her husband, he thought disheartened. But he would nonetheless escort her, so she would arrive safely.

They went inside and found a deserted table. He pulled out the chair for her. She was surprised by his antics.

"Chivalry isn't dead" she smiled appreciatively.

"Some things never die" Edward smiled as well.

"What do you want?" he asked as he motioned to the menu.

"Just a bucket. Jacob's going to be hungry, here let me find my wallet" as she looked up, she found him at the counter ordering. She grumbled in annoyance again. The nerve of this man..!

He returned with a smirk. She had already grown quite fond of that smirk. Why wasn't he with his girlfriend? Why would he spend time with a nobody like her?

"You know, I really want to bite off your head, but I'm too hungry" she said and took some chicken. She was unique, Edward thought and found himself drowning in the chocolate orbs that were her eyes. He could easily hear the heartbeat of the baby in her womb. She must be one month or two away from giving birth. Clearly she must know about the gender. Edward was curious.

"Are you having a boy or a girl?" Edward asked as she chewed the crispy skin. He was entranced by her mouth – Don't go there Edward!

"I don't know" Bella answered dismissively. She must have an appointment coming up or something.

"So you have scheduled an appointment?" he asked casually.

"No, I'd rather not know" Bella replied, getting more annoyed. Who was he to pry like that?

"So, you'd rather be surprised"

Bella put down the chicken, sporting a threatening look in her eyes. One he knew well.

"Excuse me, but who are you to pry in my private life? I don't want to know the sex of the baby, in fact, I'd rather not know of it! I don't want to see it after it comes out, let alone give it a name" Bella hissed with small droplets escaping her eyes. Edward was shocked. What was he supposed to say? One part of him screamed at him for being daft, while another begged him to leave this instant. But he couldn't. He was too attracted to her. He wished someone would stuff a foot into his mouth before he would initiate World War Three.

"But... it's your baby..." he whispered lamely and Bella broke down in front of him. She hid her face in her arms. He looked around as he heard the other patrons in the restaurant. All of them were condescending. He rested one hand on her shoulder and rubbed it soothingly, while the other reached out for her chin and lifted her face to meet his.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. It was wrong of me to pry like this. I'll leave now and you'll never have to see me again" Edward said solemnly. He couldn't stop himself as he placed a tender kiss on her forehead, wishing like a madman that he could get inside her head. He got up, but before he could leave, a frail hand caught his wrist.

"No... Don't leave" she whispered in her broken voice, her lips were quivering, so she stopped it by biting it. She was going to be the death of him. When he sat down again and they were eye to eye, they had reached common ground of some sort.

"Truth is, I'm not keeping the child... I'm giving it away for adoption... And... I don't want to grow too fond of my... the baby" Bella said hesitantly. How much should she tell this man, whom she had just met?

"But why am I sensing so much regret in your voice?" Edward ventured. Was he digging his way into her heart, or was he slowly digging his grave?

"Mr. Cullen..." Bella began, but was interrupted.

"Please, Bella. Call me Edward" he pleaded.

What was this instant connection they felt? It had been so long since Edward last experienced such feelings. Feelings that were foreign to him, they have lain dormant for so long. Before Edward could continue his musings, he was interrupted by the foulest stench ever.

"Phew! Have you seen the weather?" Jacob had joined them at the table with a bag filled with books from Waterstone's. Bella smiled at him while Edward tried with all his might to hide his scrunched up face. When he failed to escape the smell, he tried to identify it. He smelled like a wet dog.

"Yes, Jacob, how could we not?" Bella asked giggling. Why couldn't Edward lure such a sound out of her? But this Jacob-fellow was no good.

"Who's this guy?" Jacob pointed at Edward while chewing some chicken. _Disgusting..._, Edward thought. _Where are his manners?_

"Oh, sorry. Jacob, this is Edward Cullen, Edward this is Jacob Black" Bella introduced them to each other, and normally one would expect at least a polite handshake or some sort of acknowledgement. However, these two were trying to stare each other down.

"_Leech_" Jacob thought.

"Stinking mutt..." Edward whispered.

**AN:**

Okay, I know I have to update the other stories as well, but I had to get this one out. I will update the others as soon as possible, but yeah, here's the prologue to my new fic. I was in a vintage shop on Notting Hill Gate, and I fell in love with its charm. And Waterstone's, God, don't get me started. But I hope you liked it and think it has potential.

Follow me on Twitter - Audibleanne if you want to know when I update :)

Thanks for reading and have a lovely summer wherever you are!

Anne


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